Outdoor broiling unit



April 3, 1962 KROHNCKE 3,027,887

OUTDOOR BROILING UNIT Filed Aug. 11, 1959 win //v l EN 70R KENNETH KPOHNC/(E BVWM PATENT AGENT United States Patent 3,027,887 OUTDOOR BROILING UNIT Kenneth Krohneke, 919 S. 7th St., San Jose, Calif. Filed Aug. 11, 1959, Ser. No. 832,943 1 Claim. (Cl. 126-25) The present invention relates to cooking apparatus and more particularly to a broiling unit designed primarily for outdoor installation.

Various broiling or barbecue units have been installed in parks and other public places, most of these having been constructed of brick or stone at the site. Such installations are relatively expensive and accordingly are limited in number. Seasonally, the parks are crowded, and many families are prevented access to any of the limited cooking facilities.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a prefabricated broiling unit which can be permanently installed in a park or in any other appropriate location quickly and with substantially reduced costs over those units above mentioned.

It is a feature of the invention to enable the permanent installation of such broiling units wherefore vandalism is precluded.

It is a further feature of the invention to provide a broiling unit of extremely simple design so that not only is its cost low and installation simple but its use for the cooking operation is very easy.

Another feature of the invention relates to the precise design of the broiling unit which renders its use particularly effective; a minimum amount of charcoal or other material is required for the fire, and the fire can be readily started and accurately controlled so that the desired intensity ofheat is assured.

Yet another feature of the invention is the provision of a rotatable support for the entire broiling unit wherefore it can be rotatably adjusted in accordance with the prevailing wind conditions.

Additionally, it is a feature of the invention to provide a broiling unit which can readily be cleansed and otherwise serviced by park attendants or the like.

These and other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent from a perusal of the following description of the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a broiling unit constituting a preferred embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a central sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 illustrating interior details of its construction,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2, and

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a modified embodiment of the invention.

With initial reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the broiling unit constituting the preferred embodiment of this invention includes a generally box-like housing having an open top over which a gridiron 12 is placed after the fashion of a cover. The housing 10 constitutes a single casting having a flat bottom portion 10a and end walls 10b rising directly vertically therefrom, but side walls 100, which, in accordance with the present invention, slope inwardly from the bottom of the housing to a central level and then flare outwardly again wherefore a generally hourglass-shaped cross-section is formed, as best illustrated in FIG. 2. A small table 13 for utensils is supported from one side of the housing 10.

Preferably, as illustrated, small holes are formed adjacent the top edge of one side wall 100 of the housing so that rings 14 may be passed through these holes and through apertures in the gridiron 12 during manufacture of the unit so that the gridiron is permanently attached to the housing 10 yet can be raised in a pivotal fashion to enable access to the interior of the housing. A handle ring 16 is attached to the remote edge of the gridiron 12 to facilitate such access.

Interiorly of the housing 10, shoulders 18 project inwardly at its narrowed central portion to provide support for a grate 20 for the charcoal or other fuel. Bars 21 project from one end wall 10b of the housing over the top of the grate 20 at one end and a rivet 22 is applied to the remote end of the grate so that the same becomes a permanent part of the housing. This grate 20,

like the gridiron 12 and the housing 10 itself, is preferably formed from a single casting.

Below the grate 20, an elongated opening is formed in one of the downwardly and outwardly sloping side walls of the housing to receive a door 23 which is pivoted, as indicated at 24, at its upper edge and will normally swing into the illustrated closed position of its own weight.

To facilitate opening of this door 23, when desired, a generally T-shaped handle 26 projects from the lower central portion thereof. More precisely, this T-shaped handle 26 can enter the ring 16 which serves as a handle for the gridiron 12 when the door 12 is swung to a fully opened position and such ring 16 can then serve as a latch or keeper for the T-shaped handle so that the door can be releasably held in its fully-opened position.

Adjacent opposite ends of the door 23, small draft openings are formed therein which are adapted to be adjustably exposed by draft gates 28 which are slidably mounted between the surface of the door 23 and a shoulder formed on a retaining member 30 which is riveted or otherwise secured into position on the face of the door, as indicated at 32. Thus, it will be seen that full draft may be obtained by opening of the entire door 23, whereas a partial, controlled draft can be obtained by closing the door and adjusting the draft gates 28. Moreover, since draft gates 28 are provided at opposite ends of the structure, individual control of the draft and consequently heat at opposite ends of the gridiron 10 is ob tainable.

In accordance with an additional aspect of the invention, the entire broiling unit, as described, is arranged for rotatable support on the upper end of a vertical pipe or post 34. As most clearly illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, a cup-shaped socket 36 that is formed in two parts 36a, 36b is arranged to rest on the upper end of the post 34 and the broiling unit is, in turn, rotatably seated on the upper surface of such socket. In order to secure the housing on the socket, but permit rotative adjustment, a bolt 38 is screwed into a suitable threaded opening in the bottom 10a of the housing 10 with its head disposed centrally within the hollow pipe or post 34. A sleeve 40 surrounds the shank of the bolt 38 and a coil spring 42, in turn, surrounds such sleeve, being compressed between the base portion of the cup-shaped socket 36 and a washer 44 in engagement with the head of the bolt 38. Thus, the housing 10 is held resiliently against the cup-shaped socket 36 wherefore it can, with application of sufiicient manual force, be turned to a desired disposition, but cannot be removed from its seat on the socket 36.

In order to secure the two-part cup-shaped socket 36 on the post 34, a small opening is drilled in its wall to receive a projection 46 from one part 36a of the cupshaped socket and the two parts thereof are then permanently secured together and on the post 34 by passing bolts 48 through suitable aligned bores in laterally projecting ears 50 thereon applying nuts (not shown) to such bolts, and thereafter peening or otherwise distorting the ends of such bolts so that their removal is precluded. Consequently, the housing 10 is permanently secured to the pipe or post 34, but can be rotated thereon, when desired.

An installed broiling unit, as described, is preferably used in the following manner. Initially, dependent on prevailing wind conditions, the entire housing is ro tated so that the cook can perform his duties, including control of the draft openings, without standing in the path of any smoke emanating from the unit. The handle 16 on the gridiron 12 is grasped so that the same may be pivotally raised to allow insertion of a desired supply of charcoal or other fuel onto the grate 20. The grid iron 12 is then closed and the draft door 23, in turn, is fully opened and latched in such opened position by in sertion of the T-shaped handle 26 of the door into the handle ring 16 of the gridiron. The charcoal is ignited and will quickly reach cooking temperature since a full draft is applied. After the fuel has reached the desired temperature, the draft door 23 can be closed and the draft gates 28 then adjusted periodically to maintain the desired cooking temperature. More particularly, it will be noted that since draft openings exist at opposite ends of the housing 10, different degrees of heat can be attained at opposite ends of the gridiron. It should also be noted that the hourglass-shaped cross-section of the unit allows a more than ample supply of air to enter the lower portion of the housing to maintain requisite oxidation conditions at the narrowed fire zone on the grate 20.

After use of the broiling unit, the cook or, in some cases, a park attendant, can easily cleanse the ashes which fall from the grate 20 onto the bottom 10a of the housing by the simple expedient of opening the draft door 23 and then scraping such ashes into a suitable receptacle. The broiling unit is then ready for continued use.

A modified embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 4, such embodiment essentially utilizing two adjoining single units as described in the first embodiment of the invention so that details of their individual structure need not be repeated and like numerals will be employed in the drawings to designate like parts. The

two housings 10 are supported on a common base plate in adjoining relationship and this plate is rotatably supported on a post in a manner similar to that described in connection with the first embodiment of the invention. In lieu of the individual gridirons, a common gridiron 62 is placed over the dual housings 10 and adjacent one edge, a plate is formed on the surface of the gridiron to provide a so-called hot plate. In use, as well as in details of construction, this modified embodiment is substantially the same as the previously described embodiment of the invention, the main difference being its total capacity, and the increase in such capacity by the convenient dual use of individual elements.

Obviously many further modifications and/or alterations can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and the foregoing description of two embodiments of the invention are thus to be considered as purely exemplary and not in a limiting sense; and the scope of the invention is to be indicated by reference to the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A broiling unit which comprises a housing, a gridiron on top of said housing and pivotally connected thereto at one edge, a handle on said gridiron at a predetermined position, a grate supported centrally in said housing, said housing having a draft opening below said grate, a draft door pivotally connected to swing into closing position over said opening, and a handle disposed on said door and adapted for latching engagement with said gridiron handle to maintain said door releasably in open position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 87,925 Greer et al. Mar. 16, 1869 103,736 Gregory May 31, 1870 416,068 Muller Nov. 26, 1889 529,800 Matthews Nov. 27, 1894 1,963,995 Journey June 26, 1934 2,482,068 Larson Sept. 13, 1949 2,816,538 Miller et al Dec. 17, 1957 

